Mystery toy



Feb. 9',

E. s. SAVAGE 2,310,711

MYSTERY TOY Filed Oct. 14, 1942 Patented Feb. 9, 1943 UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE MYSTERY TOY Edward S. Savage, Rochester, N. Y.

Application october 14, 1942, Serial No. 461,935

6 Claims.

The present invention relates to improvements in the toy which uses a series of flexibly united tumbling blocks or slabs, popularly known as the Jacobs ladder toy, and one object of the invention is to improve the appearance of the toy by providing additional members of attractive appearance, preferably differing in shape or color, said additional members being attached to the tumbling blocks so as to project therefrom when the toy hangs in its operative position. Since these additional members are preferably ornamental in appearance they will hereinafter be referred to as display members.

The primary object of the invention is to add greatly to the mystery of action of this type of toy by providing a series of display members, attached to the tumbling blocks so as to project laterally therefrom, and so constructed that, when the blocks are caused to tumble in the well known manner, each of said display members will be caused to reverse their relative positions from one side of the hanging toy to the opposite side thereof, the differing appearance of the individual display members, such as different colors, making the reversal of positions very apparent.

Another object of the invention is to provide expansible and contractable, or folding display members, each being connected to a pair of adjacent blocks, and adapted to collapse or fold closely between the blocks to which they are attached when said blocks are in folded position, and to open up expansively when the blocks are opened to their operative end to end positions.

A further object of the invention is to provide means to preserve at all times proper alinement of the blocks, both when folded and when the toy is being operated, and so eliminate a difficulty inherent in the common form of Jacobs ladder toy, for it frequently happens in the operation of such toy that some one or more blocks will shift laterally out of proper alinement with adjacent blocks, thus interfering with the free tumbling action of the blocks, and at times, resulting in stopping the action of the toy entirely.

With the above and other objects in View the invention consists of novel features and parts and combinations of ,the same, which will be more fully described in the following specification and clearly illustrated in the accompanying drawing, in which,

Fig. 1 is a perspective view of the toy in the hanging or operative position: Fig. 2 is a cross section of the hanging toy taken on line 2-2 of Fig. 1: Fig. 3 is a perspective view of one of the display members, partly expanded, before attachment to the toy: Fig. 4 is an action view, in side elevation, drawn to a reduced scale as compared to Fig. 1, showing the 2nd block tumbling downward: Fig. 5 is a view in side elevation showing the relative positions of the toy parts after completion of the block tumbling actions shown started in Fig. 4: Fig. 6 is a perspective View of the toy in its folded position.

In the construction of the common form of Jacobs ladder toy it is customary to use three rows of flexible connecting strips, one row being located adjacent each of the two edges of the blocks and a third row located centrally thereof. It is possible to construct the toy employing continuous connecting strips running the full length of the chain of blocks. However, on account of greater flexibility to be gained thereby, the toy as usually constructed employs comparatively short lengths of connecting strips which connect each block to the next adjacent block. This latter is the construction I have illustrated and described herein in connection with this invention, but it will be readily seen that the invention is not limited to the use of this particular system of connecting strips only, for it is similarly applicable to the use of the continuous strip system or to other systems of flexible con necting strips.

Instead of the usual three rows of flexible connecting strips my construction employs four I rows of strips as illustrated in Figs. 1 and 2, in

'. which the toy is shown as employing a Jacobs ladder consisting of five blocks, Bl, B2, B3, B4 and B5, supported in vertical alinement by four rows of flexible connecting strips, Cl, C2, C3 and C4. Rows Cl and C2 are located, in slightly spaced parallel alinement, near one edge of the blocks, and rows 03 and C4 are similarly located near the other edge of the blocks, leaving a considerable space, approximately one third of the block width, central thereof between the intermediate rows of connecting strips 02 and 03. Each individual comlecting strip is approximately one and one half times as long as each block and the two ends of each strip are at tached to adjacent blocks, preferably by being tacked thereto, adjacent the strip ends as here shown, or by being glued thereto. The blocks are connected together in the following manner:

The first block, BI, is connected by four strips with the second block B2. Two of said strips,

CI and C4, are secured to the front face of the block BI near the upper end thereof, passing over said upper end and around the back of the block and forward to the front face of block B2, where they are secured near the upper end thereof. The other two strips, C2 and C3, are secured to the same face of block BI but at its lower end, and passing back and directly behind the block B2, are brought forward and secured in corresponding positions to the front face of block B2. The block B2 is likewise connected to the block B3 by four strips, the strips in the CI and C4 rows are connected to the rear of block B2 near the lower end, pass forward and around the front face of block B3 and back to the rear face of said block where they are fastened near the lower end thereof. The other two strips, in the C2 and C3 rows, are attached to the rear face of block B2 near the top thereof, pass forward and around the front face of said block and back to the rear face of block B3, where they are attached near the upper end thereof. The block B3 is secured to the block B4 in the same manner as the block BI is secured to the block B2, and the block B4 is secured to the block B5 in the same manner as the block B2 is secured to the block B3. In like manner additional blocks may be secured to the chain, increasing the length of the toy as may be desired.

The performance of the Jacobs ladder here employed, and described in the two preceding paragraphs, is the same as that of the common Jacobs ladder toy. That is, when the upper block BI is turned a half revolution, in the direction indicated by the arrow, Fig. 1, the blocks below will, through the action of gravity successively tumble downward, alternatingly on opposite sides of the toy, each block as it tumbles hinging about the lower end of the block that had previously tumbled, and in so doing the blocks will reverse the positions of their faces and ends. Similarly, when the block BI is turned back again thru a half revolution, the blocks below will again successively tumble and reverse to their original positions.

The blocks employed in my construction are preferably formed with centrally located recesses or grooves III of about one third the block width, and running longitudinally along one or both faces thereof as illustrated in section in Fig. 2. Blocks B3 and B4 are likewise recessed or grooved on both sides while the two end blocks BI and B5 are recessed on one side only.

Referring to Figs. 1 and 2, the parts I I, I2, I3, and I4 are expansible and contractable display members attached to the blocks as will hereinafter he described. The display member here shown are formed of a pack of many layers or sheets of some thin pliable material such as paper, cloth, or composition sheeting, each sheet being glued or otherwise attached to the sheets adjacent thereto, at alternately positioned and spaced intervals, as illustrated in Fig. 3, which figure shows a partially expanded display member as it appears before being attached to the toy. Tissue paper has proved to be a very satisfactory material for these display members on account of its attractive appearance, low cost, and flexibility. It will be noted that this construction is similar to that employed in many tissue paper novelties and Christmas tree ornaments. It is apparent that this construction permits the display member to be opened or expanded at either end, l5 or I6, while the opposite end remains closed to act as a hinging point. Each display member is attached to two adjacent blocks by gluing, tacking, or otherwise securing the face I! of the display member to one block and the face I8 of the display member to the other block, along the recessed or grooved surfaces II). For convenience of designation the faces I1 and I8 will hereinafter be termed operative faces and it is to be understood that this term is to include not only the fiat surfaces here shown but any form of connecting means whereby a display member of any shape is operatively connected to the blocks of the toy.

The different colors of the display members indicated in the drawing have no special significanoe and are chosen merely for the sake of contrast. Other color combinations would answer the purpose of attractive appearance and rendering the reversal of positions of the display members very apparent.

In Fig. l the display member I I is attached by one operative face to the rear surface of block BI, and by the other operative face, to the rear surface of block B2. In like manner the display member I2 is attached to the front surfaces of blocks B2 and B3, display member I3 to the rear surfaces of blocks B3 and B4, and display member I4 to the front surfaces of blocks B4 and B5.

During the performance of the toy the action of the attached display members will be as follows: When the first block BI is being turned a half revolution, in the direction indicated by the arrow, the display member II will contract until said block BI reaches the reversed vertical position, in which position the said display member II will be entirely enclosed within the space formed by the adjoining grooves in the faces of the blocks BI and B2. At this stage of opera tions block B2 will begin to tumble, hinging about the lower end of block BI, and the display member II will begin to open expansively, also hinging about the lower end of block BI. This action is illustrated in Fig. 4 which shows a side view of the toy as block B2 tumbles and shows the display member II opening on the right of the toy while the display member I2 is being closed between the blocks B2 and B3. When the block B2 reaches the bottom of its tumble it will be in face to face contact with block E3, the display member I2 will be entirely enclosed within the grooved space between said blocks B2 and B3, and immediately thereafter the block B3 will tumble and cause the display member I2 to open on the left side of the toy. Likewise the tumbling of block B4, and thereafter B5, will cause the display members I3 and I4 to reverse their positions from left and right respectively, as shown in Fig. 4, to right and left, as shown in Fig. 5, so that, starting with positions of the display members as shown in Fig. 1, one complete tumbling operation of the toy will reverse all the display members, leaving them in the positions shown in Fig. 5. It should be noted also that in the Fig. 5 positions the sides of the display members, which were in the concentric or hinging positions in Fig. 1, now occupy the outside or expanded positions. When the toy is again operated from the positions shown in Fig. 5, by turning the block BI a half revolution in the direction indicated by the arrow, the display members will again reverse to their original positions as shown in Fig. 1.

Fig. 6 shows a perspective View of the toy when folded and shows the compact, face to face, assembly made possible by the recesses II) which enclose the folded display members, leaving only their ends visible as shown at H, l2, l3 and [4. It is obvious that the display members may be made a little shorter than the blocks and the recesses in the faces of the blocks, instead of extending the full length of the blocks, may be made only long enough to receive the display members, so that when the toy is folded no part of the display members will be visible.

A secondary but important advantage of my construction resides in the preservation of proper alinement of the blocks, both in the folded position and when the toy is being operated, which is effected by the attached display members which resist any tendency of the blocks to shift laterall out of line with each other. This alining action of the display members is made still more effective by the recessing of the blocks and attachment of the display members within the recesses.

While certain embodiments of the invention have been disclosed, it is to be understood that the inventive idea may be carried out in a number of ways. For instance, it is obvious that many other forms of expansible and contractable or folding devices may be employed to function as reversible display members, and also that such other forms may be radically different in shape and appearance from the form here shown. This application is therefore not to be limited to the precise details described, but is intended to cover all variations and modifications thereof falling within the scope of the appended claims.

I claim:

1. A Jacobs ladder toy comprising tumbling blocks, flexible bands connecting said blocks to support the same, one above the other in end to end alinement, and an expansible and contractable display member attached to adjacent faces of two adjacent blocks and serving as a supplementary connection between them.

2. A Jacobs ladder toy comprising tumbling blocks, flexible bands connecting said blocks to support the same, one above the other in end to end alinement, and an expansible and contractable display member having two operative faces and being capable of arcuate expansion and contraction of either end while pivoting about the opposite end, said display member being attached to adjacent faces of two adjacent blocks, one of said operative faces being attached to a face of one block and the other operative face being at tached to the adjacent face of the other block, said display member being thereby supported in arcuate expanded position, projecting laterally from the two adjacent blocks on one side of the toy, when said blocks are in end to end relationship to each other, so that tumbling of the upper of said two adjacent blocks will cause said display member to be contracted between said two blocks, and immediately thereafter, tumbling of the other of the two blocks will cause the display member to expand and occupy a reversed position on the opposite side of the toy.

3. A J acobs ladder toy comprising an alined series of tumbling blocks, flexible bands connecting said blocks to support the same in doubleacting hinged relation to each other, said flexible bands being disposed in four parallel rows along the block faces, one pair of rows of bands being located in parallel relation near one edge of the ing said blocks to support the same in doubleacting hinged relation to each other, the faces of said blocks being formed with recesses extending longitudinally along the central portions thereof, said flexible bands being disposed in pairs of parallel rows along the block faces, one pair of rows being located in substantially parallel relation between one edge of the blocks and the adjacent edges of the recesses thereof, and the other pair of rows being similarly located between the other edge of the blocks and the adjacent edges of the recesses, and expansible and contractable display members, each having two operative faces and being capable of arcuate expansion or contraction of either end while pivoting about the opposite end, one of said operative faces of each display member being attached to the recess bottom on one block face and the other operative face being attached to the recess bottom on the other block face, said display member being thereby supported in arcuate expanded position projecting laterally from the two adjacent blocks, when said blocks are in endwise relation to each other.

5. A Jacobs ladder toy comprising a series of tumbling blocks, flexible bands connecting said blocks to support the same, one above the other in double-acting hinged relationship to each other, and a series of expansible and contractable display members, each being attached to adjacent faces of two adjacent blocks in consecutive positions along opposite sides of the hanging toy, the display members along the opposite sides of the toy being positioned in staggered relation to each other.

6. A Jacobs ladder toy comprising tumbling blocks, flexible bands connecting said blocks to support the same, one above the other in end to end alinement, and an expansible and contractable display member having two substantially flat operative faces and therebetween being composed of a multiplicity of thin sheets of flexible material, each sheet adhering to the sheets adjacent thereto along narrow adhering strips positioned at spaced intervals, such adhering strips being alternately positioned on the two opposite surfaces of each sheet, permitting arcuate expansion and contraction of either end of said display member while pivoting about the opposite EDWARD S. SAVAGE. 

